Former Widener coach Isaac Collins shows his Pride in successful year

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Isaac Collins indulged himself and his family with a few days of rest and relaxation.

The Maxwell Football Club honored Collins, who guided Widener University to an 11-1 record and the quarterfinal round of the Division III playoffs, as Tri-State Football Coach of the Year.

It's finally starting to sink in with Collins, who left Widener to take the head coaching job at Seton Hill University, a scholarship Division II school in Greensburg, Pa.

"This is kind of a neat deal because this is the first opportunity I've had since the season ended to really take it all in what our young people did over the course of 12 games," Collins said Friday at Harrah's. "It was definitely an amazing, amazing year. It was really kind of two years in the making. The guys built on the momentum of the first year and the success we had."

Sharing the dais with Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien and Manti Te'o, known more for the alleged fictitious girlfriend then the big plays at Notre Dame, was a rush. The night before Collins and his family rubbed elbows with football dignitaries of all ages here, the list including former Eagles running back Ricky Watters.

"It's been an amazing 24 hours," Collins said. "Interacting with those guys last night and then taking pictures with my kids, that was so exciting. It really is great to be a part of this panel and these great coaches and great players. It's a really neat experience. Something we'll certainly remember for a lifetime."

Collins said he misses the people he worked with and who gave him his shot at Widener, including among others school president Jim Harris and athletic director Jack Shafer.

"They saw something in me," Collins said. "And those kids that I inherited did an amazing job adjusting to me."

Also apparently in the rearview mirror is the Pride's 90-0 win over Wilkes this past season. To Collins, it wasn't a case of trying to run up the score but rather a one of those things that happens.

Collins wasn't asked about it by his new employer.

"The questions they asked were more of how did you turn it around and what would be the things that you would bring here, and how are you going to develop our student athletes and how would you recruit?" Collins said. "Which was really kind of the foundation of how we had success at Widener."

Bobby Acosta, formerly of the College of New Jersey, is the new head coach of the Pride.

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O'Brien was named the Maxwell Football Club collegiate coach of the year after transitioning the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record in relief of Joe Paterno, and in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal

The Maxwell Club presented the Tom Brookshier Spirit Award to the Nittany Lions' 31 seniors.

Which is awesome.

Eagles fans should know O'Brien was at least tempted to jump to the NFL -- and possibly Philly -- before pulling out of consideration for the head coaching job that went to Chip Kelly.

"In my profession the NFL is the pinnacle," O'Brien said. "I've coached at that level and I have a lot of respect for those guys. At the end of the day you always have to listen.

"In the end I had to do what I felt was right."

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Te'o (Notre Dame) won the Maxwell Award and Chuck Bednarik Award as college football player and defensive player of the year.

The Reds Bagnell Award for contributions to football went to Ozzie Newsome, president of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh somehow didn't win the Greasy Neale Award as NFL coach of the year. That honor was split among Chuck Pagano, who battled cancer last year, and Bruce Arians, who took over as interim head coach of the Indianapolis colts.

The Brian Westbrook Tri-State player of the year award went to linebacker Khaseem Greene of Rutgers University. The Bert Bell Award for NFL player of the year went to running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings.